Baitcasting fishing reels having an openable side cover currently exist. An Example of such a reel is described by Sato in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,331; and by Nakagawa et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 7,070,139, each of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference. Conventionally, the openable side cover allows access to the reel for servicing or adjusting the reel, or to remove the spool, for example.
While the baitcasting fishing reels having an openable side covers existing before now meet their respective requirements and objectives, a need remains for a new design with improved reliability and a compact construction.